Thieving Psychology
by TheGoodLiving
Summary: There's a whole lot more to a thief than scratchy leather and a flighty demeanor


Disclaimer: This is all for the fun,don't own any Bethesda related anything. But enjoy!

xxxx

There's more to thieves and thievery than just stolen goods and broken lockpicks. I won't take the romantic route and say we've got hearts and lungs and organs and other internal stuff that makes us human, or-for those who aren't-living Sentient beings. But we do have hearts, though they're not all made of gold, nor charcoal for that matter.

To be honest I think thieves are a bit of a misjudged lot, a typical thing to come out of a thief's mouth I'm sure but if you'd take a moment to pause the judgment and think, you'd realize not all of us started out as the 'thugs' we're made out to be.

All the coin I'm good for says that every thief's first Great Heist was a loaf of bread and a slice of cheese. The esteemed Infiltrator's debut stakeout was the Bakery's shop schedule, the pickpockets first catch was the modest coinpurse to go fetch a meal decent enough to satisfy a dignified human being (or _not_ being, I don't discriminate). And the lockpicker opened his first _sesame_ on the fruit vender's stash of merchandise in the middle of the night.

Necessity was the driving force behind a lot of our choices and if you can prove me wrong, like I said; all the coin I'm good for.. But then again, there _is_ no coin I'm good for and the coinpurse I've got in my possession I'd nabbed from the market square, but hey.. A hot plate was calling my name.

And you shouldn't trust a thief.

See we don't all start out with black hearts. It's just we don't always walk away without one either. But some do.

Maybe it's the occasional coin dropped in a beggar's cup. Even the few stolen (least valuable) gems plopped into a temple collection basket. Or _oops_ did I drop that bundle of wheatbread and snowberries into your worn knapsack while you were sleeping? Good thing you've got room in your stomach from what I can hear. Not sure if the trivial niceties are a form of atonement or an indirect acknowledgement of what we used to be. Witnesses would call it 'curious' at best, 'soft-skinned' my colleagues would call it.

Which is why I do it in the dark.

Admittedly I wouldn't care, much. After all thieves, even bandied thieves like the ones holed up in the Guild are much like- lo and behold- normal people; driven by their own desires and motivations. Only difference is not all those desires and motivations are as dignified as maybe, _normal people_. The real reason why Honor Amongst Thieves is such an elusive concept is the lack of continuity between us. Like I said, we're in it for our own interests. Though maybe not necessarily the way you'd assume upon first thought, that's why I try not to judge.

YES the gold is a likely incentive, YES pretty trinkets that fetch even prettier pay is another popular one indeed. But there's also the thrill of casing a place, the sweet tinkle of a keyhole's mechanisms, that satisfying click that strokes deeper satisfaction than the ears just before a strongbox creaks open.

Some of us do it out of boredom, some for the renown. Some for protection or convenience. Heck some of us just like the outfit (slightly guilty). Or at least the identity that you can scraggle up and pin to the roughness of the leathers and satisfy yourself with the name badge on an otherwise clotheless chest.

There's the ones that do it out of their own interests and then there are the ones that seek a place to belong. After all a collective uniform DOES create some silent sense of unity and a BAND of thieves-for some-is a whole lot better than just the one, and then life adds up to more than just ONE thief stealing a loaf of bread for his own belly. Maybe I'm just sentimental-an ironic notion for a thief I'd imagine-but I like to think a lot of people, even thieves, like their efforts to go toward something bigger than themselves.

Otherwise why form a guild? Why join a group, find a spouse, why form _society_ for that matter? If one really WAS fully content living for himself? Though if questioned about it-the thief anyway- he WILL say, indeed.. This is just for his OWN belly.

But what do I know right? I admittedly possess somewhat of a bias on the subject. But don't be so quick to turn your head and scoff. The wise know (although I'm not claiming to be one of them, they just _know_ ) that there are _wells_ to learn from _everything_. Even from the likes of someone like me.

For instance, did you know you can tell a lot about a man by how well he locks his strongbox? Yep, before even coming to faces you know his countenance is as uptight, high strung, complicated and _taut_ as the mechanisms in his lockwork. Or not so, if the same were in reverse.

If your eye's gotten sharp enough you can spot the pensive pockets in his stare, or the sunken lull in his posture. Watch longer still and you'll notice the wary way he reaches for things, almost unwilling to assert even the most trivial resolve.

If you're vain enough to speak to him after cleaning him of all his valuables you might even pick up the insecurity in the meekness of his voice or the knots in his speech.

But his strongbox is a steel fortress, that's ONE thing he CAN assert authority over, the ONE thing he CAN control in his life and No One can undermine that authority. Least in theory seeing that you're carrying his rather rare charm bracelet in the chest pocket of your leathers.

But a contract is a contract, and the guild needs to earn its upkeep and so do you but what you do with your share is up to you and so the 5% cut you return into his box out of the 800 piece profit MAY seem like a dagger in the knee-if one's mood is light enough- but hey, some thieves never give a second thought so, that should make things pretty square.

Did you know also, that the more regal the wardrobe the more likely your mark is to carry top quality jewelry on his person? Seems typical I know, but see, WELLS to learn my friend.

His garb may be pristine and his possessions may be also. A step further and you could find that unsurprisingly so is his home and after an hour or two of magic so will be the contents of your coinpurse but rummage around in the drawers and the lock safes and you're bound to find the discarded letters the family heirlooms and the journal entries and like a merciless torchlight on a cold cavern the jagged, flawed and raw properties of sheer humanity are undeniable.

Now the pretty pristine pieces shine a new light, a false one designed to blind out the naked face of the troubled nobleman struggling to live up to his household expectations and to buffer the looming insecurity that maybe, he might fail.

His condescending retorts stir a different kind of reaction when you hear them. They're a paper thin haze that you can put a breeze to and ferret out the small scared man crouched up in the deepest corners of his mind.

It works both ways though, this odd line of psychology. Like did you know that Infiltrators have the hardest time letting people in?

Just ask Vex… or don't, rather.

Lest you be cut down deeper than just the pockets.

It's why they always have the coldest dispositions. Though I like to call it the frozen shell they trained themselves to harden in order to protect the otherwise very _prone_ well of water that it's made of. (Don't tell Vex I said that, would probably earn me a swim in the Flagon waterwell for trying to make a pretty point about wells.. and water.. And tying either of the two to _Vex_ of all people.)

Infiltrators have the tendency to become the locked fortress they delight so much to break into. I'm not sure whether it's some fear of karma (she has the tendency to be _divinely_ fitting when she makes her trip around) or maybe because they know all about thieves in the night breaking past all the barricades and combing through your intimate possessions and slinking away with every article of value you own.

Whether that was acquired before or after the lifestyle would have to be left to be mulled over.

Not by me, and not just because I have better things to do.

I value my life and the better they are-the Infiltrators-the more guarded they tend to be. I'm not bad with the picks, but Vex is one locked box I wouldn't approach with dragon armor and a skeleton key.

Because I respect privacy for one-regardless how hard that may be to believe-and because even if I did manage a respectable distance I'm certain some unexplainable wave of electricity would shoot through every muscle in my body and render me for the better part of my life, catatonic, before getting five steps near her… metaphorically of course, seeing that working for her brings us in close proximity often.. In that _'world away'_ kind of way, you know the kind; there but not there, buried oceans deep in that icy fortress.

Perhaps you've seen some yourself, or perhaps regard the world behind your own.

Hey, like I said; I don't judge.

But anyway, the pickpockets are a bit different in that they're the most needy. Why else you think they're so touchy feely? It's not just the profession than the craving of intimacy. And the more complicated the fishing the more satisfying the victory. After all, what's more intimate than getting past the hem of your overcoat, round your worn leather belt, beneath the waistband of furs you may wear to fend off the cold to untie the modest coinpurse just behind your hip, without brushing too hard or pressing too firm to alert you?

…. A kiss to the forehead to a slumbering lover probably, same sentiment… to a pickpocket anyway.

But that's why I keep a safe distance. More to preserve my comfort level than my goods; I may not judge, but I've got boundaries same as anybody.

And the Lockpickers! Now they may SEEM the same as Infiltrators seeing that they break and enter. But see, this is where I'd refer you to the Wise Man's saying again.

Where the Infiltrator prizes the house, the Lockpicker's (we call them _picks_ ) prize possession is the _lock_ itself, or the satisfaction of _picking_ it. Picks prefer smaller things, like strongboxes, or display cases, and even if it's attached to something bigger, like say a door, picks get their kicks from that magic _click_ at the end of a delicious 5 second session of sound attention and fingerwork. And if the mechanism was complicated enough-and they didn't harbor a nasty case of greed-I'd venture to say they _could_ content themselves with just the thrill alone without the subsequent sweep that's sure to take place after.

It's not as unorthodox as it may seem, some people have been known to read a single line in a book over a hundred times because it _sounds_ good, and some stare at a single corner of a painting for hours because that mysterious off shade of orange just ' _does_ something to me', a previous mark's words, not mine.

Picks are the exact opposite of Infiltrators-believe it or not-and nearly identical to pickpockets. Only these crave intimacy of the mind and not the body. Explain's the preference for smaller objects I'd assume.

And if you sat down with one and your attention was well tuned enough you'd be able to catch on to the penetrating questions easy. But only if you were well tuned, like I said.

Because penetrating questions can be penetrating questions without the sharp prick of penetration if one isn't attuned.

Another reason why I like to respect privacy as much as I can manage. And not ask too many question but even then, if you're skilled enough you don't need to ask if they prefer hot drinks or cold. You can tell from how high in the fingertips they hold the mug the digits aren't accustomed to the heat. And from how deep the grimace screws after a sip if the mouth is still sensitive or built a tolerance to the sting. And the tender layers that piece of information alone tells more than they would feel comfortable with.

Where the Infiltrator bars people out, picks slither in like second nature. And no matter how good and how complicated the mechanism's designed if the pick is good enough _some_ locks are bound to be jimmied. This is probably why they don't get along. Specifically the former with the latter. They'd try to write it off as a mere nuisance, but the pick would know better.. And if he knew _even_ better, he'd keep his mouth shut about it.

Another reason also why Honor Amongst Thieves is such a shakey concept. We've got too many issues. But again that just brings me back to mention that we're just people. Hardened, darkened, sometimes greedy sometimes needy people. The 'lifestyle' as a lot of civilians like to mislabel it, goes more than surface deep and though I'm not condoning the path-keep to the universities children!-I _will_ say, there's more to it than just the tar stained road and spotted grassland people-and their untrained eyes-pick up on first glance.


End file.
